Edgefield County, SC
Total population (1850): 39,262
Enslaved population (1850): 22,725
Percent slave: 58%
Extant nineteenth-century inquests: 524
Date range: 1829-1899
Percentage of violent crimes in county sample: 39% (202/524)
The small, rural district of Edgefield, South Carolina was the Deadwood of its day, amassing a reputation for murder and mayhem unique in the nation. Forget the gangs of New York, the toughs in tailored suits strutting about Edgefield's Court House Square were up for almost anything. Take this typical exchange between Thomas Cherry and Charles Cobb.
Cherry: "You Damn puppy."
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "Do you mean to call me a Damn puppy?"
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "If you call me a Puppy, I will ag you in the face."
Cobb: "You are nothing else."
With that Cherry stabbed Cobb through the face with an umbrella.
"If we over in Edgefield insult each other, there is generally a fight or a funeral afterwards," noted Ben Tillman, one of the ten men of the district to serve the state as governor. Like Tillman, circuit judge Thomas Mackey took an almost perverse pride in the region's reputation. "I am going to hold court in Edgefield," he told a friend, "and I expect a somewhat exciting term, as the fall shooting is about to start."
Like most reputations, Edgefield's was at once deserved and exaggerated. At 39 percent, Edgefield County does have the highest proportion of violent crimes in the CSI:D sample. At 35 percent, Greenville County is not that far behind. More important, Edgefield's reputation for affairs of honor masks the mountain of dishonorable violence revealed by the morgue. Men spoiling for a fight on the street are rarely much different at home. In June 1893, Bill Gasten was sitting near his wood pile when his wife emerged from the house to draw some water from the well. Something she said set him off and he grabbed up a walking stick, hit her with it, then threw her down and began choking her. Emerging from the kitchen, her sister grabbed up the stick and told Bill to "let his wife alone." She had just started back to the kitchen when Bill cracked her head with a hoe.
Edgefield County, SC Inquests
Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type | Death Method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident |